Trust and Betrayal
by Michelle Kay
Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be one of trust and betrayal. Who should he trust? Who will betray him? Doing the easy thing and doing the right thing aren't as easy to choose between as one might think.
1. Chapter One

Title: Trust and Betrayal

Author: Michelle

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I **do not** own anything except the plot. All characters are from the mind of JK Rowling. No money is being made from this and no copyright infringements intended.

Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be one of trust and betrayal. Who should he trust? Who will betray him? Doing the easy thing and doing the right thing aren't as easy to choose between as one might think.

**Chapter One**

**R**ain pounded on the widows outside of number four, Privet Drive as a young man stared out into the street. As usual the other boy occupant of the household was thumping around downstairs looking for something else to eat.

There was an odd calmness as Harry Potter stared out through the glass pane into the night. Sirius had passed on only a month ago all because of his stupidity. Harry turned around as Dudley pounded up the stairs and past his door. Harry felt the pounding in his head as Dudley slammed his bedroom door and laid his head down on the tattered pillow on his bed. He lay there feeling as if, maybe, things might be alright again as he drifted to sleep listening to the rain outside.

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The next morning Harry heard the usual yelling downstairs. Wishing he could just go back to sleep, he begrudgingly clamored out of bed and pulled on one of Dudley's shirts. He sighed as he slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen where Dudley was getting yelled at. Harry groaned inwardly knowing what was to come.

As soon as Harry entered the room Uncle Vernon turned to face him, his face suddenly purple with rage. "You…you were supposed to make sure he didn't sneak out of his room at night! Dudley cannot help it that he needs to eat…he's a growing boy! But we went through all this trouble to keep him on a strict diet and you had to ruin it all, boy!" Vernon yelled his face only a few inches away from Harry's.

Petunia stood quietly in the corner of the kitchen cutting the grapefruit and making toast for Dudley's breakfast. Harry's attention was torn away from her when his Uncle's fist collided with his jaw knocking him off his feet. Before drifting into unconsciousness Harry heard Petunia gasp loudly and Dudley laughing in the background.

Harry woke to find himself in a rather tight position. He felt a dull ache in his jaw as the events of that morning flooded his mind. Uncle Vernon had hit him. He had grabbed him by his hair and he had pushed him, but never had he actually hit him before. He opened his eyes to find himself in complete darkness save a small stream of light coming in through a crack in the wall.

Harry sat up rubbing his jaw and winced. He stared out the small crack to see that the hall in front of him was empty. He slowly opened the door, his heart pounding in his chest. Looking through the small opening he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no one in the hall or in the kitchen. He crawled out of his old bedroom remembering how cramped it was. He stood up in the hallway and let his eyes adjust to the light. He looked around and listened for few moments but after not hearing anything he quickly and quietly ran up the stairs to send a letter to someone – anyone. On the way upstairs Harry realized how long he'd been knocked out. It was nearly dark now.

He got to his door and for a moment felt as though he should just turn around. He fought it and turned the handle slowly – quietly. He poked his head inside only for a moment before he was pulled inside the room by Uncle Vernon. "Boy, did you think you were going to come up here and send a letter to those freaky friends of yours?" His uncle asked narrowing his eyes and pulling harder on the fist of hair in his hand. Harry flinched but did not trust himself to speak. Harry felt himself getting dizzy as he stared past Vernon. He saw that Hedwig was lying silent and still inside his cage and at once he knew he was alone. Tears stung at his eyes as he saw his only friend at Privet Drive lay there, dead, inside her cage.

Harry's attention was taken away from Hedwig when he was thrown across the room. He hit the wall with a thud and slid down it gasping for air. His uncle roared and picked him up by his hair. Harry hung there too weak to do anything to stop him. He felt a fist slam into his already bruised face and felt blood trickle down. He was thrown across the room but this time he hit his head on the edge of the bed and he felt himself drifting into unconsciousness.

Harry awoke once again but this time he didn't know where he was. It was a dank, dark room. Harry couldn't see clearly considering his glasses were no where to be found. His wrists and feet were tied – no way of escaping now. Harry felt a sudden wave of panic sweep over him. What if no one came? What if he laid here and starved to death? Harry tried not to think about these things and closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes when he heard someone coming. Was it his uncle? Harry squeezed his eyes shut again – waiting for the worst. He waited and felt someone grab the rope around his wrists and start untying it. He opened his eyes to see what was going on and found himself face-to-face with Hermione. She looked very frantic and kept looking over her shoulder as if she was waiting for someone to burst in any minute.

She finally got the ropes off of him and helped him over to a door on the other side of the room. She grabbed the handle and tugged at it hard. It didn't budge. Harry heard Hermione sigh loudly before whipping out her wand and muttering a spell that Harry couldn't quite make out. It was a warm night outside but there was a certain stillness in the air that kept the both on edge. Hermione got Harry into the backseat of a car and quickly got in the front. She started the engine and roared off.

Harry felt himself relax a bit and leaned his head down seeing Hermione's face fixed into a determined glare. How had she known? Did Dumbledore send her? How did he know? Harry felt himself getting weaker by the second and felt a shrill coldness sweep through him. He was suddenly very hot and lightheaded – as if he'd been poisoned. He was now shaking violently.

He saw Hermione turn around. She gasped when she saw him and slammed on the breaks causing Harry to shake worse. She got out and opened his door. Her eyes were darting over him frantically like she didn't know what to do. Harry heard a car's tires screeching behind him. Hermione slammed the door and got back in the front. She sped off throwing quick, apologetic glances at him every few moments.

Harry was sweating bullets by the time Hermione pulled into a driveway. He was shaking but couldn't get himself to stop. His breaths were short and ragged and he was burning up. Hermione pulled him out of the car and tried her hardest to get him inside. She finally gave up and ran inside. Harry panicked inside. Where was she? Had Uncle Vernon followed them all the way here? He saw Hermione come back out of the house with a taller, older man running along behind her.

They got to the car and lifted him out. They quickly carried him to the house where an older woman was waiting with a wet cloth and a bag of ice. They laid him on the couch and Hermione dabbed his forehead (which was bleeding) with the cloth. The two older people were talking frantically in the background. Harry didn't know what was going on but he had no control of his body. Hermione had bandaged up his head at some point and was now checking for any broken bones.

Harry felt his eyelids suddenly become very heavy and shut them. He felt Hermione check his arms, wrists, hands, ankles, and legs. He felt the warmness radiating from her hands for a moment – as if she hesitated before lifting his shirt over his head. There was a pause before her felt her warm hands on his torso. He heard her gasp when a shot of pain coursed through him.

He heard her drone in the background. "Mum! Dad! He's got a broken rib!" She said. She was crying now. Her parents tried to calm her and told her that the medics would arrive soon. They went on to explain to her that it seemed her had been beat up pretty badly but he would be fine.

"Mum!" Hermione replied. "He was shaking and sweating! He's been poisoned! Those foul, evil people!" Hermione screamed. "Why aren't they in prison? They treat him horribly! That's why Ron and I have to send him food every week! They starve him!" Hermione cried. Ron. Harry had forgotten about him. Why hadn't Dumbledore sent Ron? Harry wasn't thinking straight anymore.

Harry heard sirens in the distance before drifting off for the third time that night.


	2. Chapter Two

Title: Trust and Betrayal

Author: Michelle

Rating: PG-13 (higher rating for abuse)

Disclaimer: I **do not** own anything except the plot. All characters are from the mind of JK Rowling. No money is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be one of trust and betrayal. Who should he trust? Who will betray him? Doing the easy thing and doing the right thing aren't as easy to choose between as one might think.

**Chapter Two**

**H**arry woke up not knowing what time it was. He felt a lot better than he did awhile ago. The room he was in was very dark indicating that it was still night. His eyes started to adjust to the darkness. He looked around. He assumed he was in a guest bedroom. He looked around the room some more – only just noticing Hermione sleeping in a wooden chair in the corner. Harry had considered carrying her to her bed but was forced not to when he couldn't sit up. He was no longer sweating though he still felt a little nauseous and it felt awfully warm in the room even with the window open. His muscles ached badly but he just couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts were racing through his head. He was still trying to process everything by the time the sun had come up.

The sun had now become bright enough that the room was very well lit. Harry looked over at Hermione who was still sleeping peacefully in the chair. He looked around the room which he now realized was painted a very light green. In fact the whole room was green. There was a bookshelf that took up almost a full wall. A desk scattered with papers, parchment and quills. He saw a copy of Hogwarts; a History on the desk and in the corner was a chest with the initials HG on them. This must be Hermione's room.

Harry was startled when Hermione stirred. She nearly fell off the chair when she awoke. Most likely not used to sleeping in a straight backed wooden chair. "Good Morning, 'Mione." Harry said brightly even though he still felt nauseous. Hermione's eyes widened and she looked like she'd forgotten everything that had happened the previous night. "'Mione?" Harry asked again.

"Oh, Harry. Good Morning… Sorry, I thought I was dreaming or something…" Hermione said trailing off into thought. There was a slight pause. "'Mione?" She asked looking up at Harry. "Well, I'm tired and lazy – I have my faults." Harry replied with a grin. Hermione laughed. She looked up as if she was deep in thought.

"Actually, I kind of like it…" Hermione said. "Yeah, I really do." She smiled at him. Harry smiled back. This was nice. He still felt like crap, sure. But he'd never been at Hermione's house before. He'd been to The Burrow and Grimmauld Place. He wondered why the thought of coming here had never occurred to him before.

"I didn't know you liked the color green." Harry said looking around the room again. It was quite pretty. It had almost a sea feeling to it.

"Oh, I love green." Hermione said looking around the room as if she'd never seen it before.

They were just sitting there, staring at Hermione's sea-foam green colored walls when there was a knock at the door. "Come in." Hermione said standing up. The older man, who Harry now assumed was Mr. Granger, stepped in. He eyed Harry suspiciously. "Breakfast is ready." He said before leaving the room and not shutting the door. Hermione rolled her eyes at him as if she knew exactly what he was doing. Harry looked up to Hermione for an explanation but she just ignored it.

Hermione moved towards the door. "Can you move?" She asked.

Harry tried to sit up again. This time he succeeded. He was still quite sore but he thought he could manage.

"Yeah – I'll be right there." Harry said with a forced smile. Hermione shut the door as she left. Harry sighed. He threw the covers off of him expecting to see bandages. There were none. Come to think of it he thought he had cracked a rib. There were no bruises on him either. Puzzled by this Harry got up out of bed and stretched to loosen up some of his muscles.

Harry made his way downstairs stretching on the way. He noticed the smell of pancakes in the air and his stomach growled. He smiled and walked into the kitchen. He did a double-take when he saw not only Hermione and her parents, but also Snape. Why the hell was he _here?_ Harry looked to Hermione for an explanation but she looked like she didn't mind that Snape was sitting in her kitchen. Snape was eating pancakes. He looked up at Harry. Harry half expected him to take points from Gryffindor for merely existing. Harry did his second double-take that morning when Snape smiled at him then went back to eating his pancakes.

Harry pondered what just happened as the Grangers and Snape merrily ate their pancakes. Harry was just confused by the whole situation. He poked Hermione and motioned for her to follow him. She got up muttering a quick 'excuse me' before following Harry into the living room. "What?" She asked sitting down on the armchair in the corner. Harry sat on the couch and faced her with a confused look on his face.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked at him. "He came last night when…" she trailed off. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "He came and made some potions that healed you. We still have no idea how your Uncle got that poison. Professor Snape said that it was a potion. He said that if I hadn't owled him that you…" Hermione trailed off again and sniffled.

Hermione stood up rubbing her now red eyes. Harry got up and walked over to her. He crushed her with a big bear hug that caused Hermione to giggle. Harry pulled away looking hurt. "Here I was trying to be nice and I get laughed at…" Harry said to himself. Hermione laughed.

"So, Snape came here and gave me a potion to heal me from whatever it was that Uncle Vernon gave me?" Harry asked making things a little clearer inside his head. Hermione nodded. "Okay then - so why is he still in you kitchen…eating pancakes?" Harry asked.

"My parents insisted that he stay and have breakfast. It was nearly five when he got here." Hermione said. "He'll be leaving anytime now." She stated looking up at the clock that read 9:17 am. Hermione smiled. "Want some pancakes?" She asked motioning at the door.

Harry started for the door. He stopped, suddenly very dizzy. Hermione turned towards him. "Harry, are you okay? You look pale…paler. Harry?" She asked worriedly.

"It's okay – I'm just tired." He replied before grabbing for the wall to keep himself from falling down. Harry fell to the floor. Before he passed out he heard Hermione screaming for help in the background.


	3. Chapter Three

Title: Trust and Betrayal

Author: Michelle

Rating: PG-13 (higher rating for abuse)

Disclaimer: I **do not** own anything except the plot. All characters are from the mind of JK Rowling. No money is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be one of trust and betrayal. Who should he trust? Who will betray him? Doing the easy thing and doing the right thing aren't as easy to choose between as one might think.

**Chapter Three**

Harry awoke back in Hermione's bedroom. Suddenly aware that he was lying in Hermione's bed he tried to sit up. 'What's going on?' Harry thought trying to sit up again. He found that he couldn't. 'Maybe it's just my muscles tensing up again.' Harry thought. He tried to open his eyes. He had absolutely no control of his body. It's like when your arm falls asleep and you can't move it no matter what. He tried to open his eyes or mouth but he couldn't. He felt someone sit down on the bed beside him.

"Snape – that horrible, slimy git!" Harry heard Hermione say to herself. "What the hell did he do to you, Harry?" She asked him but didn't expect him to reply. "What did he give you?" She asked him but still didn't expect him to reply. "Dumbledore will know about this. Why did I ever trust that…that…" Hermione trailed off.

'What? Snape was here? Why can't I move? Snape gave me something? Is that why I can't move?' A hundred thoughts raced through his head. He was brought back to reality when he heard a door slam downstairs. Harry felt Hermione get up off of the bed.

Harry opened one eye. 'What? I didn't do that!' Harry thought frantically. 'What is going on?' Harry thought. "I thought they'd never leave." Harry felt the words leave his mouth. 'I didn't say that!' He thought. 'Oh, no.' He saw Hermione turn around.

"Harry! You're okay!" She yelled running over to him and enveloping him in a huge hug. He pushed her off of him and she fell to the floor. Hermione scrambled up and looked at him clearly confused. Harry was panicking.

'What is doing this? This isn't me!' He thought. Then it hit him. 'Snape.' He thought angrily. Hermione was looking at him shocked. She stood on guard for a moment. Harry smiled evilly at her.

"Harry?" Hermione said her voice shaking. "Harry, what's going on? Are you okay?" She asked. She looked scared.

'She's scared of me.' Harry thought sadly. 'Hermione is scared of _me_.'

"Nothing's going on. I'm wonderful. In fact…" Harry felt his lips move as he trailed off. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Hermione. Harry felt himself walk up to Hermione. Hermione looked scared. Really scared. He grabbed her wrists and slammed her against the wall. He had her wrists pinned up against the wall above her head. Hermione winced.

"Harry? What…" She looked at him nervously. "What's going on?" her eyes pleaded for him to explain to her.

Harry replied by pushing her harder into the wall and gripping her wrists harder making large bruises. Hermione was whimpering. Harry was breaking down inside. He leaned in and roughly kissed her. Harry stopped thinking.

There was a moment where Hermione was almost in shock but it quickly ended when he tasted blood. Hermione had bit down on his lip. He leaned in closer to her and pressed his body up against hers. "Don't tell me you've never thought about it…'Mione." He said whispering into her ear. Hermione's eyes widened. He still had her against the wall. He started to move his hand up her shirt. Hermione turned her head away from him hiding the shame on her face. "Don't like that, Mudblood?" Harry felt himself speak the words he thought would never come out of his mouth.

Hermione gasped and a muffled cry could be heard coming from her. She tried to move away from him but he was too strong.

'Hermione, no, I don't mean it! Do something. I don't mind. Get yourself away…I don't want to hurt you…' Harry tried desperately to contact her. Her eyes were red and blotchy when she turned to face him with an angry look on her face.

"No? Well, he could do better anyway." Harry grinned evilly. 'Oh, God, oh ,no. Hermione, no. Don't cry. I don't mean it.' Harry thought praying to God he – whatever was controlling him wouldn't hurt her. He backed away a bit but still blocked the path to the door.

Hermione had tears streaming down her saddened yet determined face. "Harry, this isn't you. Whatever is bothering you; I – we can help." Hermione said trying to calm him down. "I want to help. We can get Lupin and Dumbledore. They can help you. Harry, why are you acting like this?" She asked desperately as she was backed into the corner.

"Stupid girl. You're boyfriend isn't here anymore." Harry felt himself burn with rage. There was nothing he could do.

Hermione pulled out her wand. "What – Who are you? What are you?' She asked. When he didn't answer she continued. "Whatever you are. What do you want?" Hermione said edging towards the door. Her cheeks were still tear-stained. "What did you do with Harry?" She asked advancing on him.

"Oh – Your precious Harry is here. He's just…incapable of pretty much everything right now." He said taking a deep breath and stretching. "As for what I want. There are a lot of things I want…" He trailed off. "Oh, I wanted a nice family. Maybe a house and white picket fence outside. No one wanted me… But enough of that… Let's start with ridding the world of filthy little mudbloods like you." He said his eyes now locked on Hermione. Inside Harry flinched. 'Oh, God. What am – what is he going to do to her?' Harry thought frantically trying very hard to bring himself to the surface.

Harry felt himself point his wand at Hermione who was, again, backed into the corner. 'Oh, God, no. I'll do anything. Stop!' Harry shouted inside. "Avada Ke– " Harry screamed and fell to the floor. He was breathing heavily, drained completely of magic and strength. He lay there for what felt like an eternity before he slowly sat up and rested on his elbows. "Oh, God, 'Mione"' Harry said not able to look at her. "Oh, God."

Harry looked up at her. She was still in the corner. There was blood on her chin and she was still shaking. No one spoke. Hermione eyed the door. Harry started to get up and Hermione stepped back towards the wall again.

"Hermione – it's me." Harry said standing up. He tried to move closer to her but she pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. "Don't you dare come near me." She said narrowing her eyes. He didn't move closer to her but simply moved out of her way. Hermione gave one fleeting look before running out the door leaving Harry standing alone in her room.


End file.
